The Advent of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be on him)
as prophesied in the Holy Bible.
The Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him) has been referred to many times in the Holy Bible. The Jews have been awaiting a law-bearing prophet, like Hazrat Moses (may peace be upon him) for so long, that it has become such a well known prophecy that the Jews referred to his coming as ‘that Prophet’. In fact, the Jews believed that the time and place of the coming of ‘that Prophet’ was the same time that coincided with the coming of the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) in Arabia.
You may not be aware of Islamic history, but in fact three Jewish tribes migrated and settled in a place called Yathrib (later changed to Medina) in Arabia. They did this, because of the prophesies in the Talmud that ‘that Prophet – the law-bearing Prophet like unto Moses’ was due to be born at that place. Therefore they hoped that one from among them (a Jew), would be ‘that Prophet’. They talked so much about the coming of this great law-bearing Prophet, that the Arabs living in Yathrib thought that when they heard a Prophet was in Mecca, it must be the same one that the Jews had been referring to, hence they invited the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) to come and stay in Yathrib. So the grand prophecy was fulfilled and the awaited Prophet of the Jews was now in Yathrib, but the Jews did not accept him as he was not a Jew, as they were expecting.
We believe that all the Prophets of God prophesied about the coming of the ‘great law-bearing Prophet’ which we believe was fulfilled with the coming of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him).
The most famous prophecy can be found in Deuteronomy 18:18 which we believe refers to the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him). Deut. 18:18:-
“I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee (Moses) and will put my words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him” (King James Version)
First of all, the prophet will come ‘from among their brethren’, so who are the brethren of the Jews? If we go back to the time of the Prophet Abraham (may peace be upon him),we find he had two special sons, Isaac and Ishmael. From Isaac came Jacob, who was called ‘Israel’ by Allah and thus the ‘Israelites‘ began. His elder brother Ishmael’s followers were referred to as the ‘Ishmaelites’ and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him) was a direct descendant of Hazrat Ishmael (may peace be upon him). Thus the Ishmaelites were the ‘brethren’ of the Israelites.
Hazrat Jesus (may peace be upon him) on the other hand was also an Israelite and therefore not a ‘brethren’ and there is no way that the Jews would accept Christians as their brethren.
Secondly, ‘Like unto thee’ refers to being a law-bearing Prophet like Moses (may peace be upon him) was. The Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him) was also a ‘law bearing Prophet’ to whom the Holy Qur’an was revealed. Hazrat Jesus (may peace be upon him) was a follower of the Mosaic law, he did not bring any ‘new law’ just a new understanding of the previous law - “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the Prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil” (Matthew 5:17).
Thirdly, “Will put My words in his mouth” “Shall speak unto them all that I command him” The Holy Quran is the ‘book from Allah’, every word has been revealed from Allah, not one word has come from the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him) or anyone else. Therefore it is very correct to say that ‘Allah put His words into the mouth of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him)’ and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him) ‘spoke and informed the Muslims everything that Allah had commanded him’. This is also confirmed in the Holy Qur’an Chapter 53, verse 4-5
“Nor does he speak out of his own desire. It is nothing but pure revelation that has been revealed by God”.
He also always began every action with ‘Bismillah’ – ‘In the name of Allah’.
Hazrat Jesus (may peace be upon him) cannot make such a claim, he never brought a law-bearing book, and never claimed that ‘everything’ he spoke was from Allah.
Incidentally, you may also be interested to know that Allah has also referred to this relationship between Moses (may peace be upon him) and the Holy Prophet Muhammad (may peace and blessings be upon him). The Holy Qur’an states:-
“Say ‘Tell me, if this Qur’an is from Allah and you disbelieve therein,(Jews) and a witness from among the Children of Israel bears witness to the advent of one like him,…” Chapter 46, verse 11
Another great prophecy can also be found in Deuteronomy Chapter 33, verse 2:-
“And he said, The LORD came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints; from his hand went a fiery law for them.”
Mount Sinai is where Hazrat Moses (may peace be upon him) received the Ten Commandments. The area of Seir is where Hazrat Jesus (may peace be upon him) preached and Mount Paran, is Faran (there is no ‘P’ in the Arabic alphabet, therefore they use ‘F’ instead). Faran is an area where Mecca is situated and it is connected with the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him). When the victory of Mecca took place, the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) marched into Mecca with 10,000 followers. For Muslims the ‘right hand’ signifies ‘good’ and the ‘left hand’ is used for dirty things. Finally the ‘fiery law’ refers to the Holy Qur’an.
The number ‘ten thousand’ is also referred to in another verse in the Song of Solomon, Chapter 5, verses 10-16
“My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand…His mouth is most sweet: yea he is altogether lovely…”
In the Hebrew Bible, the words ‘altogether lovely’ is quoted as ‘Muhammadia’, therefore it says “yea he is Muhammadia”.
There are other verses in the Old Testament such as Isaiah 9:6-7; Isaiah 21:13-17; Isaiah 62:2; but let me now turn to the New Testament.
First, in John 1:20-21 we find that the Jews were expected three prophets:-
“And he confessed and denied not; but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him (John the Baptist) ‘what then? Art thou Elias?’ and he saith I am not. ‘Art thou that prophet? and he answered ‘No’.
In this verse, the Jews asked John the Baptist whether he was any of the three prophets that they were expecting. We know that Jesus was the Christ and John the Baptist, whilst denying at that time, was later revealed by Jesus that he was the second coming of Elias, which just leaves the identity of ‘that Prophet’ which refers to the law-bearing Prophet like unto Moses, which found fulfilment with the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him) .
Finally, we turn to Jesus, who had to inform the Jews of the next expected prophet, which he did do, informing them about the Comforter!
John 14:15-26:-
“If ye love me keep my commandments and I will pray to the father and he shall give you another comforter that he may aide with you forever…But the comforter which is the Holy Ghost, whom the father will send in my name shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance whatsoever I have said to you.”
John 16:7-14:-
“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth, it is expedient for you that I go away, for if I go not away, the comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgement…I have many things to say to you, but ye cannot bear them now, howbeit, when he the Spirit of Truth is come, he will guide you unto all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak and he shall show you things to come. He shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine and shall show it unto you.”
Some people say this refers to the Holy Ghost, but Jesus said “receive ye (disciples) the Holy Ghost” John 20:22 so the Holy Ghost was already with them, but here it clearly states that Jesus had to leave them and that he would send the comforter, and this comforter will teach all things and all truths, reprove the world of sin and abide forever, which refers to the teachings of the Holy Qur’an. The Comforter will show you things to come, (which is prophecies) and he will glorify me, (which is what the Holy Qur’an did by removing the false accusations that he died on the cross, about whether it was a virgin birth etc). And once again it mentioned that he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever he shall hear that shall he speak, which as we have already shown, relates to the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him).
Therefore there are very clear references in the Holy Bible about the coming of the Holy Prophet (may peace and blessings be upon him).